System for operating and monitoring having integrated historian functionality

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a system for operating and monitoring a production process and for filing process data for a historian system, the operating and monitoring functionality and the historian functionality being integrated in a single system. A historian database is used for storing process data. The production process and data filed for the long term can be accessed in one system. The process data has to be collected only once by the respective devices. The historian system takes advantage of the redundancy of the operating and monitoring system, special multiplexer components transparently covering up underlying systems. The inventive system is internet compatible and can be used by any clients. Commercially available historian clients can be used in internet scenarios by remoting the database interfaces.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the US National Stage of International ApplicationNo. PCT/DE2003/002887, filed Sep. 1, 2003 and claims the benefitthereof. The International Application claims the benefits of Germanapplication No. 10243065.9 filed Sep. 16, 2002, both applications areincorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a system for operating and monitoring aproduction process, said system having an integrated database for filingthe process information data.

In modern production installations, in particular in the processingindustry, ever-increasing volumes of data arise during the productionprocess owing to the growing use of intelligent field devices. Said datais used partially directly in systems for operating and monitoring (alsoHMI or SCADA systems) for monitoring and controlling the respectiveproduction process. Data concerning the production process is, however,similarly also used by what are termed historian systems or, as the casemay be, systems for managing the plant information (Plant InformationManagement System, PIMS) in such a manner that the data is filed inhigh-performance databases and is available for subsequent analysis withthe aid of statistical evaluation systems.

The systems currently employed for operating and monitoring (O&Msystems) therefore acquire process data in order to display themomentary values in, for example, graphical form. The O&M systemsmoreover also generate alarms and events from the data. They also filethe process values, insofar as is necessary for a subsequent display.Filing typically takes place in a proprietary manner in a separate filesystem.

Graphical representing of the process data can be carried out on whatare termed O&M clients. Proprietary interfaces are as a rule employedfor this. It is extremely important for O&M systems to ensurehigh-availability plant operation at all times. They therefore offerhighly developed redundancy mechanisms and allow the functionality to bedistributed even over the internet. Large systems for operating andmonitoring are, moreover, frequently distributed systems in order totake the plant's topology into account. As a result, data logging,report derivation, and filing are also distributed. However, systems foroperating and monitoring offer mechanisms for the clients rendering thisdistribution transparent.

The plant information management systems (PIMS) used by industry todayserve to acquire process data very fast and centrally. Said data is as arule stored in a database. The clients of said systems, for examplesimple database clients, will then be able to interrogate said datalater via standard interfaces (ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, SQL, and the like) andfurther process it. The main focus here is on accessing via a genericinterface. Redundancy mechanisms and accessing of the historical dataover the internet are non-existent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

O&M and historian systems both access the same process data. Therequired data therefore has to be fetched twice from the relevant datasources. This burdens both the data sources, which is to say controldevices and sensors, and the respective communication paths such as, forexample, networks. The data used by the two systems is not synchronizedbecause the acquiring system as a rule issues a time stamp andsynchronizing between both systems or, as the case may be, time stampswould require a substantial expenditure. The currently necessary doubleconfiguring of the overall system is also demanding in terms ofexpenditure because, for example, acquisition cycles have to be plannedtwice. The redundancy and the transparency of distribution in thelogging and filing of process data that are made available by, forexample, an O&M system are not used for the historian clients and canonly be implemented by means of expenditure-intensive cluster mechanisms(of the operating system or database), hardware redundancy, and explicitdistribution planning. Internet access to the historian databasesupported by network mechanisms such as proxy servers or firewalls isnot possible over the standard interfaces, such as, for example, ODBC.

The object of the invention is to disclose a system enabling simple andnon-site-specific operation and monitoring of a plant and servingsimultaneously to permanently file and/or archive process data foranalysis and the application of evaluation methods.

Said object is achieved by means of a system for operating andmonitoring a production process, said system having first means forprovisioning automation devices or, as the case may be, systems and/ordiagnostic devices or, as the case may be, systems and/or furtherdevices for acquiring process information data, a device for editingand/or representing the acquired process information data for at leastone user of the system, and a historian database for filing the acquiredprocess information data for evaluating and/or representing the filedprocess information data.

The invention is based on the knowledge that the separation currentlyprevailing between the systems for operating and monitoring a plant or,as the case may be, a process and the plant information managementsystems, which is to say the historian systems, gives rise to increasedexpenditure requirements in acquiring the process data or in theplanning of, for example, process communication or a security system.

The advantage of the presented embodiment according to the invention isthat the characteristics or, as the case may be, advantages of O&Msystems and historian systems are combined.

The system for operating and monitoring is herein expanded in such amanner as to offer historian functionality in addition to its originalfunctionality and also vice versa. This means that the O&M processcommunication is used to file the acquired process information data on ahigh-performance basis in a database contained locally in the HMI or, asthe case may be, vice versa, that the data acquired by the historiansystem for long-term filing is used in an integrated O&M system. The O&Msystem herein co-assumes the functions of the hitherto separate filingsystem or, as the case may be, vice versa. An efficient historian ishence combined with the functionalities of a modern HMI system. Ascalable historian functionality is thereby available ranging from asimple HMI standalone system to a cross-corporate solution that is alsoused in process control systems. The database herein serves as a centralinformation exchange in a company or, as the case may be, for a plantand places particular requirements on performance, availability, andsecurity. Efficient mechanisms are implemented herein that far exceedthe function of a standard database and render the database suitable forindustrial use without having to accept the limitations in terms of theopenness and standard of, for example, a Microsoft SQL server. Datacompression, various options for redundancy that is transparent for theapplication and for users, online modifiability, and long-term filingare integrated in the basic system. Expensive duplicate entries and thetime-consuming maintenance of planning data are effectively obviated asthe historian is an integral part of the HMI system. Data is acquiredfrom the automation systems via standard interfaces, or also fromdatabases, then aggregated and filed. The consequence of linking the HMIand historian into a single application is also, however, that data hasto be acquired only once from the information sources, which is to saythe automation devices or, as the case may be, diagnostic devices. Thisresults in reduced loading of the network and sources. It furthermoreensures consistency of the filed data. [lacuna] have a possibility oflogging and displaying the security status. Plant operators are herebyenabled at all times to monitor the security status of parts of theirplant's automation.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the system is provided for coupling to the automation devices or,as the case may be, systems and/or diagnostic devices or, as the casemay be, systems and/or further devices via a data transmission device.The system according to the invention can be installed at any locationon the plant and receives the necessary process information data forexample over an Ethernet, a bus system, or any other device serving totransmit data from the field devices to the O&M system. Alongside itsnon-site-specific characteristic, the system's flexibility is alsoadvantageous since additional field devices can be connected to the datatransmission device at any time.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the system has second means for generating alarms and/or events.The integration of a security system of said type which makes theacquired real-time information data available for generating alarms orevents for an operator and monitor of the plant as a function of therespective planning is advantageous since a plant operator can beimmediately warned if certain parameters within the production processdo not accord with the requirements. The operator will be able to reactimmediately and intervene in the production process or, as the case maybe, re-adjust a should-be value in the event of a false alarm. Thesystem for operating and monitoring thus draws a plant operator'sattention, by means of particular information, to the fact that acertain situation has arisen, possibly an exceptional situation,requiring an immediate response on the part of the plant operator.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the system has at least one interface for communicating with atleast one client. It is herein advantageous that a plant operator doesnot have to work directly on a PC or [lacuna] on which the system foroperating and monitoring the plant is installed. The real-time data andits corresponding graphical representation can also be accessed from aclient at any other location. A certain degree of mobility is therebyprovided in operating the plant. Said embodiment of the inventionfurthermore has the advantage that in the case of a distributed plantthe actual HMI system has to be installed only once on an efficientmachine, while plant operators are able to access said systemindependently of each other from several clients. Distributed operationof the system is hence also made possible.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the client is provided as a web client for communicating over theinternet and/or an intranet. The advantage of this embodiment of theinvention is that the process information data for operating andmonitoring can also be accessed from remoter locations, for example whena plant consists of a plurality of sub-plants or when a company isspread across different locations. Company management is thereby enabledalso to call up the production data centrally.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat a browser is provided as the web client. It is advantageous when abrowser is used that any internet-enabled client can be employed forusing the system for operating and monitoring a plant. The client canhence be what is termed a thin client. The evaluation functionalityrequired for the system for operating and monitoring is herein madeavailable by the system for operating and monitoring itself via acommunication network, which is to say, for example, over the www.Availability of information is thus ensured at any time and at anylocation through the use of a simple web browser.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the clients and/or the web clients are embodied as SCADA clients ofthe system for operating and monitoring. It is herein advantageous thatSCADA clients already installed for operating and monitoring the systemcan also be used in the future for, for example, accessing the fileddata newly stored in the system via the clients. The SCADA clients thusalso serve as operating stations for the filing system. In addition toaccess to the current plant status, historical process data and alarmsare also made visible for the user via the client in the form of trendsand tables. Already existing analysis functionalities, such as filterconditions and sorting criteria in the client's various visualizingobjects, are herein also available.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the clients and/or the web clients are embodied as clients that areindependent of the system for operating and monitoring. It is hereinadvantageous that independent clients, what are termed 3^(rd)-partycomponents, which is to say, for instance, typical historian clients,have access to the filing system via the system for operating andmonitoring a plant. It is therefore not necessary to replace any alreadyexisting historian clients having special analyzing and evaluatingfunctionality. Said clients are supplied with the relevant processinformation data by way of remoting of, for example, the standardinterfaces of the database. Accessing can, however, also take placeherein via the proprietary interfaces of a system for operating andmonitoring. Using the special historian clients as, for example,analysis clients is advantageous for analyzing the optimizing potentialin the process. Data analyzing can be performed not only interactivelybut also as being triggered by events within the various processeswithin the company.

Combining the system for operating and monitoring a plant with thehistorian system and with the possibility of representing the combinedsystem's data in a special analysis client ensures a better overview atall times of the relevant company.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the independent clients are embodied as historian clients havinganalyzing and/or statistical and/or graphical functionality forevaluating and/or representing the filed process information data. Useof the relevant clients as, for example, report clients for printing anddisplaying pre-designed reports containing online data and historicaldata from all levels within a company is advantageous. Any data fromdatabases, 3^(rd)-party applications, and also from the automation levelcan herein be included.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the functionality of the independent clients is integrated in theSCADA clients of the system for operating and monitoring. In thisadvantageous embodiment an analysis client's highly complex analyzingfunctionality and graphical functionality, for example, usedspecifically in a historian system is included in the user interface ofthe system for operating and monitoring. This enables the system foroperating and monitoring to be used in such a manner with a singlerepresentation or, as the case may be, from a single client that theplant can be operated and monitored and that an overview of thehistorical filed data, which is to say, for example, trends, cansimultaneously be provided extending over a number of years. Theadvantage herein is that it is not necessary to install differentclients having different functionalities, which factor primarilyconstitutes an economical solution. It is, however, furthermoreadvantageous for a plant operator in, for example, an alarm situationrequiring a response from said operator simultaneously to be able toaccess filed data and trends so as thereby to utilize availableknowledge about the production process as experience for the responsethat is made. Using a combined client of this type thus makes itpossible to provide the operator with a “process information dataknowledgebase” at any time.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the functionality of the SCADA clients is integrated in theindependent clients. Said embodiment enables standard clients as well asspecial clients suitable for data analysis to be used simultaneously forrepresenting the functions specific to an O&M system. Monitoring andoperating of the plant by, for example, a historian client is madepossible since the special O&M user interface is integrated. Activeintervention in the production process from the same client is alsopossible alongside passive information processing.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the functionality of the clients is integrated in standardapplications, in particular office applications. Said embodiment makesit possible to implement what are termed management clients fordisplaying the historical data on standard office PCs having standardtools such as, for example, Microsoft Excel, so that company managementcan, whenever required, obtain an overview of the situation in theproduction sector at different times or, as the case may be, acrossdifferent periods of time. Special pre-designed reports containing datacompiled for management can herein be represented by the standard officeapplications. An overview, including one covering a company's variousproduction sites, can therefore be generated at any time and anywhere ona standard PC.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the database is provided for fast and/or central filing of theacquired process information data. The database used for filing theprocess information data must be of high-performance type since processdata comprising thousands of individual items has to be written into thesystem in a short time and filed there. Special requirements aretherefore placed both on the performance of a database of said type andon its availability and security. In particular the structure ofemploying a central database is advantageous alongside high performance.Synchronicity of the filed data is ensured thereby. It is furthermoreensured that all consumers of information will access a uniform datainventory. A distributed storing of data and the attendant problem ofsynchronizing are avoided by means of said central database and thestoring of data is achieved in an advantageous manner.

A further advantageous embodiment of the system is characterized in thatthe database is embodied as a relational database. High-speed storagefacilities and data accessing are ensured thereby.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat access to the database is provided by means of SQL queries viastandard interfaces. It is herein advantageous that standard Microsofttechnology can be employed. A Microsoft SQL server, for example, can beused for the database, with its then being possible for accessing totake place via, for example, OLE-DB, OPC, COM. The special developmentor, as the case may be, programming of specific interfaces to allowaccess to the database is rendered superfluous by this advantageousembodiment of the invention.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the process information data filed in the database is provided foraccessing by clients communicating with the system. The clients, whichis to say, for example, SCADA clients or special analysis clients, candirectly access the data which is stored in the filing database. Directprovisioning of the respective users with filed process data is ensuredthereby. External relocating of the data, buffering within a furthersystem or in the system for operating and monitoring, and otherintricate methods or mechanisms for making the data available arethereby rendered unnecessary. Rather it is the case that the data isaccessed directly.

A further advantageous embodiment of the system is characterized in thatremoting of the standard interfaces of the database (4) is provided.Remoting the standardized database interfaces (ODBC, OLE DB, ADO, SQL,and the like) makes it possible to use commercially available historianclients in remote internet scenarios. The clients can access the processinformation data directly.

A further advantageous embodiment of the system is characterized in thatthe system and the clients are provided for bi-directional webcommunication. Clients and the system for operating and monitoring canthus communicate with each other using standard HTTP protocols. It isherein advantageous that communication is bi-directional, which is tosay the clients can, temporally independently in a process triggered bythe server without a client request, both receive and appropriatelyrepresent data from the system for operating and monitoring and alsosend instructions to the system for operating and monitoring a plantwhich will then be executed there accordingly and, in certaincircumstances, influence the production process. The production processcan therefore as a result of this advantageous embodiment also becontrolled remotely.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the clients are provided for entering specifications and/orshould-be values for controlling the production process. It is hereinadvantageous that it is also possible for special values serving as, forexample, threshold values for generating alarms and/or events to bechanged or, as the case may be, adjusted remotely by the respectiveclients. Remote tuning of the plant is made possible by thisadvantageous embodiment.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the system for operating and monitoring is provided for managingusers of the system and/or for planning process communication and/or asecurity system. It is herein advantageous that, for example, userrights and access rights are administered directly within and by thesystem. The system itself therefore has information as to whether, forinstance, a specific user is authorized to re-adjust a should-be valuefor, for example, triggering an alarm. The system furthermore enables,uniform planning of, for example, communication structures or thesecurity system. It is herein particularly advantageous that within thesystem the structures have to be planned only once and will thereafterbe available for both the historian system and the system for operatingand monitoring. Time-consuming duplicated planning is thereby renderedsuperfluous.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat the system for operating and monitoring is of redundant design,with redundancy also existing for independent clients. Operation andmonitoring of a plant having to be provided by the system at all times,a major prerequisite is for highly-developed redundancy mechanisms to bepresent in the system. Fast access to the data acquired from theautomation systems or, as the case may be, diagnostic devices must beensured so that working can resume immediately in the event of a totaloutage. Redundancy can herein be implemented by imaging the data in thesystem or by employing redundant hardware, such as servers, and throughduplicated interrogation of the process information data from thesources. Additional burdening of the data lines is avoided when imagingis employed as the respective process information data has to beacquired once only. The historian system benefits in the case of thesystem according to the invention from the redundancy present in anyevent in the O&M system.

A further advantageous embodiment of the invention is characterized inthat at least one multiplexer component is provided for concealing theredundancy and/or a plurality of data servers. The redundancy mechanisms(changeover of the servers/data sources) are transparent for the client.Concealment takes place in servers or in intermediate layers (proxies,multiplexers). In the event of an outage of, for example, a server,changeover will thereby be effected automatically to a redundant serverand the users on the clients will continue to be supplied with therelevant information. They will not be affected by the component outageand no special measures will have to be launched to switch to theredundant server. Rather it is the case that changeover will take placewithout the clients' being apprised of the outage by the multiplexer.

The invention is described and explained in more detail below with theaid of the exemplary embodiment shown in the sole figure:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 shows a system for operating and monitoring a production process,said system having integrated historian functionality.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The system 1 acquires process information data PI from a productionprocess PP. Said process information data PI comes from automationdevices or, as the case may be, diagnostic devices 5. These can becontrol devices or sensors. The process information data PI istransmitted to the system 1 over a data transmission device 6. Said datatransmission device 6 can be, for example, a bus system. The data ismade available by the means 2 for real-time provisioning for use in thesystem 1. A device 3 for editing or representing the acquired processinformation data PI is present in the system 1. There is furthermore adatabase 4 for filing the acquired process information data PI. Saiddatabase can be a SQL server. The process information data can be usedby further means 7 for generating alarms or events. The system 1 cancommunicate with clients 9, 9 a, 99, 99 a via an interface 8. Thiscommunication can take place over the internet 10. A multiplexer 11enables concealment in the case of redundancy and/or a plurality of dataservers.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention shown in the figure theprocess data PI collected by automation devices or, as the case may be,diagnostic devices 5 during a production process PP is forwardeddirectly to a system for operating and monitoring 1. Alongside the useof bus systems, any communication networks such as, for example,transmission over the internet, is herein also conceivable as the datatransmission device 6. The process information data PI is used by thesystem 1 for operating and monitoring to represent a current plantstatus for a user. A user can as a rule also influence the relevantproduction process PP via the system 1 by being able to address thecontrol devices via the data transmission device 6. The re-adjustment ofshould-be values is, for example, herein conceivable. Similarly, it ispossible via the system 1 for operating and monitoring to, for example,influence supplied quantities of various basic materials employed in theproduction process.

The system 1 is able to produce alarms or events on the basis of theacquired process data PP to make the user aware of special situations.Simple analyses of the process data are therefore possible through themeans 7 for producing said alarms and events.

An extensive analysis of production processes over a longer period oftime is likewise enabled by the system 1 as a result of the filing ofall process information data PI within the system 1 on a database 4. Allmeasurements taken from the production process are stored in thedatabase 4. Fast access to the historical data also describing aproduction process PP over a longer period of time is thus possible atany time over the system for operating and monitoring. Analysis such as,for example, comparing different batches, is hereby made possible by thesystem 1.

The process information data PI acquired from the automation devices or,as the case may be, diagnostic devices 5 is therefore used by the systemboth for representing the current plant status and for filing for thepurpose of subsequent detailed analysis. The data therefore has to becollected once only.

Any clients 9 such as, for example, special clients for operating andmonitoring such as SCADA clients or web-enabled clients 9 a such as, forexample, a web navigator for a system for operating and monitoring canbe connected to the system 1 via a proprietary interface 8. Independentclients 99, 99 a themselves contributing special functionality but notequipped directly with functionality for operating and monitoring canalso be connected to the system 1 via a proprietary interface 8 and canaccess process information data PI. The data filed in the database 4 canhereby be represented and processed on, for example, special analysisclients possessing specific evaluating, analyzing, statistical, andgraphical functionality.

Standard programs such as, for example, an office environment fromMicrosoft, can likewise be used. The provision of global informationabout the plant's current status and about the plant's history withreference to the production process is consequently possible at anytime. Access can herein be effected on the one hand via the proprietaryO&M interfaces and, on the other hand, also through remoting therelevant generic database interfaces.

A hybrid interface enabling direct access to the data of the database 4and access to data of the system 1 for operating and monitoring is alsoconceivable. The system 1 overall enables a plant's process informationdata PI to be accessed at any time and anywhere over clients 9,9 a,99,99a of multifarious kinds for the purpose, on the one hand, of operatingthe plant and, on the other hand, of supplying information.

To summarize, the invention relates to a system 1 for operating andmonitoring a production process PP and for filing process data for ahistorian system. O&M functionality and historian functionality areintegrated in a system 1. A historian database 4 serves to store processinformation data PI. Accessing of the production process PP andaccessing of data filed on a long-term basis is enabled in one system 1.The process information data PI has to be collected once only by therespective devices 5. The historian system benefits from the O&Msystem's redundancy. Special multiplexer components 11 ensuretransparent concealment of underlying systems. The system 1 isinternet-enabled 10 and suitable for use by any clients 9,9 a,99,99 a.Remoting of the database interfaces enables the use of commerciallyavailable historian clients in internet scenarios.

1.-24. (canceled)
 25. A system for operating and monitoring a productionprocess, comprising: a first mechanism for providing process informationdata acquired from automation devices or automation systems and/ordiagnostic devices or diagnostic systems and/or further devices; adevice for preprocessing and/or representing the acquired processinformation data for at least one user of the system; and a historiandatabase for archiving the acquired process information data forevaluating and/or representing the archived process information data.26. The system as claimed in claim 25, wherein the system is providedfor coupling to the automation devices or, as the case may be, systemsand/or diagnostic devices or, as the case may be, systems and/or furtherdevices via a data transmission device.
 27. The system as claimed inclaim 25, wherein the system further comprises a second mechanism forgenerating alarms and/or events.
 28. The system as claimed in claim 25,wherein the system further comprises at least one interface forcommunicating with at least one client.
 29. The system as claimed inclaim 28, wherein the client is provided as a web client forcommunicating via the Internet and/or an intranet.
 30. The system asclaimed in claim 29, wherein a browser is provided as the web client.31. The system as claimed in claim 28, wherein the clients are embodiedas SCADA clients of the system for operating and monitoring.
 32. Thesystem as claimed in claim 28, wherein the clients are embodied asclients that are independent of the system for operating and monitoring.33. The system as claimed in claim 32, wherein the independent clientsare embodied as historian clients having analyzing and/or statisticaland/or graphical functionality for evaluating and/or representing thearchived process information data.
 34. The system as claimed in claim32, wherein the functionality of the independent clients is integratedin the SCADA clients of the system for operating and monitoring.
 35. Thesystem as claimed in claim 32, wherein the functionality of the SCADAclients is integrated in the independent clients.
 36. The system asclaimed in claim 32, wherein the functionality of the clients isintegrated in standard applications.
 37. The system as claimed in claim25, wherein the database is adapted for fast and/or central archiving ofthe acquired process information data.
 38. The system as claimed inclaim 37, wherein the database is designed as a relational database. 39.The system as claimed in claims 37, wherein access to the database isprovided by SQL queries via standard interfaces.
 40. The system asclaimed in claim 25, wherein the process information data archived inthe database is provided for accessing by clients communicating with thesystem.
 41. The system as claimed in claim 39, wherein Remoting of thestandard interfaces of the database is provided.
 42. The system asclaimed in claim 25, wherein the system and the clients are provided forbi-directional web communication.
 43. The system as claimed in claim 25,wherein the clients are provided for entering specifications and/orsetpoint values for controlling the production process.
 44. The systemas claimed in claim 25, wherein the system for operating and monitoringis provided for managing users of the system and/or for planning processcommunication and/or a security system.
 45. The system as claimed inclaim 25, wherein the system for operating and monitoring is ofredundant design, with redundancy also existing for independent clients.46. The system as claimed in claim 25, further comprising at least onemultiplexer component for concealing a redundancy and/or a plurality ofdata servers.
 47. A database for archiving acquired process informationdata for evaluating and/or representing the filed process informationdata, wherein the database being provided for integration in a systemfor operating and monitoring of a production process as claimed in claim25.
 48. A computer program product for operating and monitoring aproduction process by a system as claimed in claim 25.